9 killed as maxi-cab falls into khud
Shimla, August 29
Eleven persons were killed and eight injured, four of them seriously, in two different accidents in Rohru subdivision this afternoon.
Nine persons were killed and eight injured when a maxi-cab (HP-01 3391) veered
off the road and plunged into a khud near Balu Kiari, about 85 km from here.

BJP seeks resignation of Virbhadra
Shimla, August 29
The BJP demanded resignation of the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, following defeat of the Congress in the byelection to the Kaithu Annadale ward of the Municipal Corporation here today.

Pathania’s remarks mischievous, say Cong leaders
Shimla, August 29
The statement of Mr Kewal Singh Pathania, former minister, urging Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, to replace Mr Virbhadra Singh as Chief Minister by leader from the lower areas, has evoked a sharp reaction from leaders of the new Himachal.

ABVP sweeps SCA poll
Shimla, August 29
The Students Federation of India swept all the seats in Government Degree
College for Boys and Girls, Sanjauli, by bagging all the four seats.

Palace not suited to
house college
Chamba, August 29
One of the majestic structures of the state, popularly known as Akhandchandi Palace in Chamba, is in ruins but houses the local government postgraduate college and a district library.

Book bank defaulters, says action panel
Mandi, August 29
The action committee of the Mandi Citizens Council has called a general house meeting tomorrow as the state Cooperative Department is allegedly dithering on booking big bank defaulters and their guarantors.

Steps to check cable operators
Chamba, August 29
The Himachal Pradesh Government has empowered all the District Information and Public Relations Officers to regulate the working of the cable operators in their respective districts and ensure that the Doordarshan channels were being viewed to the public or not.

Swan project: 2,260 hectares to be reclaimed
Una, August 29
Thakur Kaul Singh, Minister for Irrigation and Public Health, while talking to mediapersons here so far Rs 33.68 crore has been spent on the Swan canalisation project in Una and 16.67 km of embankment on both sides of this river from Jhalera towards Santoshgarh has been completed so far.

Row over setting up of hospital
Parwanoo, August 29
The decision of the HP State ESI Corporation to set up a state-of-the-art ESI hospital at Baddi has sparked a row in the Parwanoo industry circle.

1 killed in car mishap
Mandi, August 29
One person was killed and two of his family members were injured when the Maruti car they were travelling in collided head-on with a private bus near the Hanogi temple, 25 km from here, on the Mandi-Kulu highway last evening.

Shimla, August 29
Eleven persons were killed and eight injured, four of them seriously, in two different accidents in Rohru subdivision this afternoon.

Nine persons were killed and eight injured when a maxi-cab (HP-01 3391) veered off the road and plunged into a khud near Balu Kiari, about 85 km from here. The vehicle was on its way to Aunti from Rohru. While six persons died on spot, three succumbed to their injuries on the way to hospital. The four seriously injured were shifted to Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital here and the remaining were hospitalised at Jubbal. All the victims were from Uttaranchal and Nepal.

The accident was reportedly caused due to the negligence of the driver. The police has registered a case and arrested the driver, Kewal Ram, for causing death due to rash and negligent driving.

The deceased have been identified as Ganga Singh of Sidri, Manvir of Bajni, Rajinder Singh of Parola, Bharat Singh of Sikri and Janak Singh of Parola (all from Uttaranchal), Mrs Guddi, wife of Nar Bahadur, Sheela, Buku and Poonam (all from Nepal).

Shimla, August 29
The BJP demanded resignation of the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, following defeat of the Congress in the byelection to the Kaithu Annadale ward of the Municipal Corporation here today.

The seat had been held by the Congress ever since the corporation came into being more than two decades ago. The contest had assumed significance as top leaders from both, the BJP and the Congress, including Mr Virbhadra Singh, Mr P.K. Dhumal, former Chief Minister, Ms Viplove Thakur, the PCC chief, and Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, the state BJP chief, had campaigned for their respective candidates.

Mr Bhardwaj said the defeat of the Congress in the Guler Assembly byelection last year and the municipal byelection in the state capital today had provided a clear indication of which way the things were moving. The defeat symbolised rejection of its anti-people policies, he added.

However, Mr Virbhadra Singh dismissed the demand for his resignation and said BJP leaders had trivialised politics by asking him to quit on minor matter. The election result of a municipal ward did not reflect on the functioning of the government or even the municipal corporation. The main reason was Mr N.K. Mehta, former deputy mayor, who held the seat died after prolonged illness. The ward remained neglected during his illness, he said.

Shimla, August 29
The statement of Mr Kewal Singh Pathania, former minister, urging Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, to replace Mr Virbhadra Singh as Chief Minister by leader from the lower areas, has evoked a sharp reaction from leaders of the new Himachal.

Terming the statement as mischievous and motivated, Mr Vikram Katoch, a former minister and member, AICC, Mrs Anita Verma, Mr Mukesh Agnihotri, Mr Kuldeep Pathania, Mr Surinder Bhardwaj, Mr Sudhir Sharma, Mr Jagjiwan Paul, Mr Surinder Kumar Kaku and Mr Bodh Raj, all MLAs, said it was an attempt to divide the state on the basis of caste and region, which was against the philosophy of the party. They urged the party high command to take notice of the statement and initiate immediate disciplinary action against Mr Pathania.

Mr Virbhadra Singh, they said, was an elected Chief Minister and a respected leader of the party who held the top post for five terms and remained a member of Lok Sabha for four terms.

The partymen and people of the state would not tolerate any attempts to lower the prestige of the Congress and their leader.

They asserted that Mr Pathania was trying to flog a dead horse and by raising the issue in the media, he had violated party discipline. He had not only tried to create regionalism and casteism but also attempted to question the wisdom of the party high command and capability of the party leadership. The Congress was a democratic party open to suggestions by all partymen but this did not permit them to take issues to the Press.

Shimla, August 29
The Students Federation of India (SFI) swept all the seats in Government Degree College for Boys and Girls,
Sanjauli, by bagging all the four seats. The SFI’s Chetan Sharma was elected president, Mahinder Chandel as vice-president, Sachin Sahani as general secretary and Chandan Dhanta was elected joint secretary of the College Student Central Association
(CSCA).

However, the SFI had to satisfy with the seat of vice-president in Rajkiya Kanya Mahavidyala
(RKMV) where in the last term it had won all the four seats.

In Kotshera College the NSUI suffered a big jolt as it could retain only one seat of joint secretary on whom Navan Chauhan emerged victories. The ABVP’s
Gaurav Sharma was elected for the post of president, while the SFI’s Ashish Verma and Anupam Mehta was elected vice-president and general secretary, respectively.

The ABVP won all seats in Government Degree College, Theog and Rampur SFI and NSUI bagged two seats each. In Sarswatinagar Degree College three posts fell in the ABVP, while the NSUI had to content with only on seat. The SFI begged all the four seats in Government Degree College, Nerwa and
Chopal.

DHARMSALA: The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) here today made a clean sweep in the elections for the Central Students’ Association
(SCA) at regional centre of Himachal Pradesh University and Government College here.

In case of the regional centre, Anand Sharma of the ABVP got 232 votes to defeat National Students Union of India (NSUI) candidate Rajeev Kapoor for the post of president. Rakesh Kumar (236 votes) was declared as vice-president, Amit Kumar (210 votes) and Chander Kant (233) were elected as general secretary and joint secretary, respectively.

The ABVP’s panel elected at the Government College, Dharamsala Nitin was elected as president, vice-president — Vishal; general secretary —
Sunnu; and joint secretary — Pankaj.

A mixed panel was chosen at the Baroh College, Prince and Sunit of the NSUI were elected president and general secretary, respectively Bhanu and Surinder, both of the Changar Sangharsh Samiti were declared vice-president and joint secretary, respectively.

At Kangra’s DAV College, Amit and Parvesh Kaundal of the ABVP were declared president and vice-president, Parvesh Sharma of the NSUI elected as general secretary and Shekhar of the ABVP as joint secretary,
respectively.

NSUI’s Mukesh was elected president at Dhaliara College and the remaining three seats went to the Bajrang Dal with Nitika as vice-president, Anil as general secretary and Ashish as joint secretary.

The NSUI panel swept all the four seats at Kanwar Durga Chand Memorial College in
Jaisinghpur. These included Ankur (president), Santosh (vice-president), Surinder (general secretary) and Rachna (joint secretary).

In case of Baijnath College, Ajay Lagwal and Vikas Awasthi of the NSUI were elected as president and vice-president respectively. Anil Kumar and Chander Prabha of the SFI elected as general secretary and joint secretary, respectively.

MANDI:
The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad(ABVP)swept polls in the Students Central
Association(SCA) elections held today. Majority of seats won by the ABVP in degree college in Mandi-Kulu-Bilaspur districts.

The ABVP leaders who took the rallies in the towns of Mandi, Kulu,
Banjar, Ghumarawani, Sarkaghat, Jogindernagar, where it won most of the SCA seats, defeated its nearest rivals the National Students’ Union of
India(NSUI).

In Vallabh Degree College, the ABVP won all the four seats for the third time. The ABVP also made cleansweep in Sundernagar College.

In Kulu Degree College, the ABVP swept the polls winning all the four seats.

In Sarkaghat College, the NSUI won two seats, while the ABVP won one each seat. In Jogindernagar, the ABVP won three seats, while NSUI won one seat. SFI failed to open its account. But in the degree college, Karsog in Mandi district, SFI won all the four seats.

SUNDERNAGAR:
The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad won all the four seats of the Student Central Association at Maharaja Laxman Sen Memorial College, Sundernagar. The ABVP penal has won for the fifth times in this college.

As per results declared here today, Karan Thakur was elected as president, Ravinder as vice-president, Sanjay as general secretary and Nitin was elected as joint secretary.

The contest was between the ABVP and the National Students Union of India. The NSUI candidates were defeated more than 150 votes.

The Students Federation of India and independents were also in fray but they were pushed either on the third or fourth
place.

CHOWARI (CHAMBA): The elections of the Students Central Association
(SCA) was held at the Government College Chowari here today. The National Students Union of India (NSUI) swept three positions whereas the post of president went to the Students Federation of India (SFI). The following were elected: president — Nirmal Singh (SFI); vice-president — Divanshu Mittal (NSUI); general secretary — Samans Din (NSUI); and joint secretary — Ranbir Singh Pathania (NSUI).

BILASPUR: Making history for the first time a newly formed group of students, Bilaspur Students Association, which earlier was students’ wing of the Himachal Vikas Congress under the name of
HVSU, swept the poll of Government Postgraduate College Central Students Association here this evening by defeating the candidates of the ABVP and the NSUI. Those elected are Dinesh Kumar (president), (Amit Kumar (vice-president), Joginder Singh (general secretary) and Vibhore (joint secretary).

NAHAN:
The Students Federation of India (SFI) has won one seat out of total eight
seats of the Students Central Association
(SCA) in Sirmour district. The SCA election was held peacefully today at Nahan and Paonta Government Postgraduate Colleges.

The National Students of India (NSUI) today captured three seats, while one seat was won by the SFI in the SCA election of Nahan Postgraduate Colleges. Chain Singh of the NSUI was elected for the post of president. In a tough contest Yashpal of the NSUI was elected as vice-president. Ankur Pundir of the NSUI was elected secretary. Ms Anita of the SFI won the post of joint secretary.

PAONTA SAHIB:
By forgetting their political rivalry the NSUI and the ABVP have surprised every body this time by making a joint front Shivalik Hills Students Union
(SHSU) to face the Hills Students Union (HSU) at Paonta Postgraduate College in Students Central Association
(SCA) election. The alliance got half of the seats in the election, while the SFI failed to make its presence at Paonta Sahib.

Prashant Saini, candidate of the SHSU was elected president of Paonta
SCA. The post of vice-president was captured by Charan Singh Kapoor of the HSU. Shyam Singh of the HSU was elected to the post of secretary. The post of joint secretary was captured by Shikha Sharma of the
SHSU. The SFI was nowhere seen in fight.

RECKONG PEO (KINNAUR): The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has virtually swept student polls at the government college held here today. The National Students Union of India (NSUI) was virtually rooted out from here, while the Students Federation of India (SFI) contended with the post of vice-president.

The Principal of the college, Dr
S.B. Negi, told The Tribune that Suraj Prakash of the ABVP was declared elected as president, while Kumari Urmila Negi of the SFI bagged the post of vice-president.

Vikram Singh of the ABVP won the secretary’s post and Vivek Kumar of the ABVP won the post of joint secretary.

Victory of the ABVP candidates was marked with folk dances and slogans.

As many as 849 votes out of the total 1,100 votes were polled in the election.

At Government Degree College,
Arki, the NSUI won on three seats while ABVP one. NSUI candidates Daleep Kumar, Anita Sharma and Rashmi Sharma were declared winners for the president, vice-president and joint secretary posts, respectively. Kumar Jyoti of the ABVP, won the general secretary seat.

At Solan college the SFI made a clean sweep by winning all four seats. Sanjeev Kumar, Rattan Dev, Puja Chauhan and Rajesh Bhardwaj were elected president, vice-president, general secretary and joint secretary, respectively.

Chamba, August 29
One of the majestic structures of the state, popularly known as Akhandchandi Palace in Chamba, is in ruins but houses the local government postgraduate college and a district library.

Built by Raja Sham Singh in the 19th century, the palace is reported to have been a landmark of art. Walls are, however, crumbling and the beautiful windowpanes and doors have fallen apart. The wooden floor has also given way in many rooms.

The “chitrakari” hall housing art and craft is in a shambles. The toilets are also in a pitiable condition.

The rooms are not suited for classrooms. Some are too small while the others are too big. Some windowpanes have been replaced with plywood and electric fitting are mostly exposed.

The responsibility for the maintenance of the building is with the Public Works Department. The renovation of the palace requires huge funds.

The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and other organisations, have suggested to the government to shift the college and restore the palace to its original glory. They have also urged that it be declared as part of the national heritage and be used as a museum by the state Archaeological Department or the Archaeological Survey of India.

Mandi, August 29
The action committee of the Mandi Citizens Council (MCC) has called a general house meeting tomorrow as the state Cooperative Department is allegedly dithering on booking big bank defaulters and their guarantors.

The media convener of Mandi Urban Cooperative Bank Ltd (MUCBL), Mr T.L. Vaidya, said here today that the defaulters were not cooperating with the new administration in the recovery of the loan.

“The bank management should book not only defaulters, but also their collaterals speed up the recovery and restore depositors confidence”, the action committee said.

It alleged that the bank management was not taking the committee into confidence, which, in turn, was delaying the process of loan recovery.

Chamba, August 29
The Himachal Pradesh Government has empowered all the District Information and Public Relations Officers to regulate the working of the cable operators in their respective districts and ensure that the Doordarshan channels were being viewed to the public or not.

In exercise of the powers conferred by the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act, 1995, the Director of Himachal Pradesh Information and Public Relations Department has recently issued directions to all the District Information and Public Relations Officers to strictly abide by the provisions laid down in the Act.

These officers had been directed to enforce the provisions laid down in the Act stringently and keep watch on the random and unprofessional working of the cable operators in their areas. The order states that the officers had been authorised to take legal action against offender cable operators.

According to Mr Ravi Verma, Assistant Public Relations Officer, as many as 33 cable operators were running their cable network in six revenue subdivisions of the district.

Una, August 29
Thakur Kaul Singh, Minister for Irrigation and Public Health, while talking to mediapersons here so far Rs 33.68 crore has been spent on the Swan canalisation project in Una and 16.67 km of embankment on both sides of this river from Jhalera towards Santoshgarh has been completed so far. He said for the second phase of this project from Jhalera towards Gagret a Japan bank might join the project.

Thakur Kaul Singh said after the completion of the first phase 2,260 hectares would be reclaimed and used for agriculture, horticulture, forest and fishery.

Meanwhile, the minister lashed out at the BJP for alleging that Una district was being discriminated against.

He said the government was aware that old tubewells had to be replaced with new and he had issued instruction in this regard.

He further said the state government had prepared an act for management of underground water and the sanction of the Government would be required for boring tubewells by private parties. Meters at such tubewells would be installed and royalty for use of water charged.

Earlier, the minister inspected the work of Swan river project at Jhalera.

Parwanoo, August 29
The decision of the HP State ESI Corporation to set up a state-of-the-art ESI hospital at Baddi has sparked a row in the Parwanoo industry circle.

In the 34th meeting of the Regional Board of the corporation held on Wednesday here, the corporation reaffirmed its decision to set up a hospital at Baddi that was fast growing as a major industrial centre.

It was a clever move to abandon the idea to make Parwanoo ESI Hospital a model hospital, pointed Parwanoo industrialists.

At present ESI Hospital at Parwanoo caters to the need of around 50,000 industrial workers covered under the ESI Act, 1948, besides giving medical treatment to the local public. The hospital is under the control of the state government that runs it through the funds provided by the corporation.

The ESI corporation pays Rs 900 per insured person annually to the state government.

Out of Rs 900, Rs 540 are meant for administrative expenses while the rest of the amount is for super speciality, drugs and dressing and repair and maintenance expenses of equipment.

It was illogical to set up a new hospital at Baddi. Instead the Parwanoo hospital should be upgraded as a model hospital, asserted

Mr Rakesh Bansal, general secretary of the Parwanoo Industries Association. Rather to waste funds on a new hospital at Baddi, they should be used to make the Parwanoo hospital as a model hospital, he maintained.

Now when Baddi was witnessing industrial activities Parwanoo, which had once remained the hub of industrial activities, was being ignored, pointed Mr Bansal.

Shimla, August 29
The Directorate of Labour and Employment, Government of India, has sanctioned a professional rehabilitation centre for the physically challenged for Himachal Pradesh.

A government spokesperson said that in all three such centres had been sanctioned for 2005-06 of which one would be set up in Una district of the state. The centre would help the physically challenged to become economically self-reliant and capable of self-defence.

The Directorate had established 17 professional rehabilitation centres in various parts of the country where the physically challenged were imparted professional and technical training according to their ability and talent to enable them to get employment.

The Government of India bore the entire expenditure on training and procurement of machinery and other equipment, except lodging facility in rehabilitation centres. The estimated expenditure to run the rehabilitation centre came to about Rs 71 lakh.

Mandi, August 29
One person was killed and two of his family members were injured when the Maruti car they were travelling in collided head-on with a private bus near the Hanogi temple, 25 km from here, on the Mandi-Kulu highway last evening.

The deceased has been identified as Chander Mohan, who succumbed to his injuries at the Mandi hospital today. He was driving the car. His wife and a daughter sustained injuries and were reported to be in serious condition at the Zonal Hospital here, the police said.